


Tired of Waking Up on the Ground

by yuffiehighwind



Series: An Eternity in Cheese Country [6]
Category: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-01-01
Updated: 2003-01-01
Packaged: 2017-11-18 09:22:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/559398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuffiehighwind/pseuds/yuffiehighwind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Discord mourns her parents, Zeus and Hera. Deimos tries, and mostly fails, to comfort her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tired of Waking Up on the Ground

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place during the time gap between S5 Ep 19 "Looking Death in the Eye" and S5 Ep 20 "Livia."

She's sitting on top of the columns of the Parthenon struggling to register the cold fact she'll never see her father again. The people scurry around, faithful in a time of doubt and strife, as a new leader far away calls to the crumbling land, beckoning, join in. It's mandatory. He's not as ruthless or as charismatic as Julius was, but for a Caesar, he'll do. She exhales and frowns. No breath seems to hit the air, though she mock breathes because being a ball of light doesn't appeal anymore. Centuries of being told to "relate to the people" conditioned her to short, brunette female form and that's hard to break. She looks around, vaguely wondering how silly she looks, then remembers no one cares and no one is looking. Her father is gone and this doesn't click. Nobody notices. They scurry about and wonder why their prayers go unanswered. Before, the reason was simple - Their god had stopped caring. The new truth is a tougher apple to bite - Their god is dead. Yeah, Augustus will do a decent job, but he ain't no Julius, and he certainly ain't no Zeus.

The news still won't register. He's away, like always, off philandering and partying. He'll come back and boss everyone around. They'll see. Athena and Apollo will stop competing for the throne. Ares will stop sulking. Well, no, he won't, because Xena - the "love of his life" – has passed as well, but maybe Dad'll smack some sense into him. The Council will stop floundering about, unsure of what to do, and where is Hera, anyway? On vacation too, perhaps. Happy lies. She never realized how much her parents meant to her until it was too late.

The voice of reason snaps her out of it. Nah, just the voice of her cousin. Who wasn't there in the beginning. Who only saw the hate.

"What are you doing, Discord, sulking like some flesh-rag? Are those tears there? Since when does the goddess of dissension cry?"

That's the nicest he's ever gonna get and Discord almost smiles at the warm thought behind the cold words. Almost. Arms wrap around and she's bawling now.

" _Nyx,_ you're leaking. What's wrong?"

"They're gone, Deimos. They're gone. My mother and father are gone."

He pets her head awkwardly and squeezes her waist.

"Shut up, I don't understand you."

He's frowning, now, though, and lines of sympathy almost show. Almost. He chokes back an impulsive giggle out of politeness. The pain she's emanating is shooting through the roof and it takes a lot of control not to get excited about it. He's god of pain, sensing it, loving it and living it, and this is too much. It's not just about the parentals, that much is obvious in the molecules of the very air. Discord clings to him, burying her face in his chest. She feels him move and looks up, though she knows what she'll see. He's choking back laughter. She chokes down sobs.

"You bastard."

Trying the sympathetic face again, in a low voice, comes the reply, "You called it."

Her body jerks like she's getting ready to slap him and he flinches. "Look, Discord, you know what I am…"

"I  _know_ , I  _know_ , this pain of mine's like some kind of  _high_ for you." She wipes her eyes and her lips almost form a 'thank you.' Almost. "Didn't have to be a  _jerk_  about it."

Now the floodgates are closed and Deimos lets the laughter out.

 _"Jerk!"_ She slaps him but the grin's still there. So are the arms, though, holding her up, and there's his unspoken 'you're welcome' in reply to her almost thank you, the vibe of camaraderie and understanding all around despite the burning rivalry that eats up the air, even in the bedroom.

'Cause not long after, or not long before, no record in history will ever be sure, two half-souls desperately clung to each other, fueled by anger and need, and snubbed Ares, who turned out to not particularly care, too wrapped up in a third warrior princess party, making all attempts to bait his jealousy vain.

None of it mattered much at the moment, though, because for all Deimos cared, Discord would still be depressed about the family and Ares and her parents and he'd get laid anyway while for all Discord cared, it could've been Hermes or Dionysus holding her in his arms, though she wanted it to be one certain being she'd likely never see again.

And for five minutes none of it mattered, none of it crossed two minds as they sat on top of a column of the Parthenon wondering what would happen next and if anyone was really  _safe_ , in the family or in the world, wondering if it even mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this way back in 2003, and I can't for the life of me remember why this happened, but I think there was a 'fic somewhere, long ago, that had Deimos getting high from pain, Discord could feel discordance/anger in her gut in a similar way, and I incorporated that into my head!canon.
> 
> The title is a lyric from the song "Potato Girl" by Our Lady Peace.


End file.
